This message was recorded July 13th, 2025. The speaker is David Simpson. Now you have your Bibles, and I want you to turn to the Gospel according to Mark. We are taking up again our study in Mark, and I believe this is message number 9 already. But I want us to read together and then come back and talk about a few things that are here. So I want you to look with me, please, in Mark, the first chapter. And I've read these before, but let's read again from verse 16 down through 20. Now as he, this is the Lord, chapter one, Mark one, now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers, or fishermen. And Jesus said unto them, come you after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway, quickly, immediately, instantaneously, they forsook their nets, they dropped their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little further from there, thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. From Jerusalem and up to Capernaum, that is about eighty miles, and it took somewhere between five and seven days to cover that period of time. We have already heard Jesus' call because we've spent most of our time in John. We've heard His call of four disciples, Andrew and John. They were the ones who were the disciples of John the Baptist, you remember that? Back there in John the first chapter. And then we're introduced to Philip and to Nathanael, those four, and Nathanael in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he is called Bartholomew. So in the first three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he is called Bartholomew. But in John, he called him Nathanael. Little difference there, but I'm just telling you that so you'll know. So today, what are we going to talk about? Well, I want to do two things. I want to talk with you about the call of Simon Peter, and I want to talk with you about the call of James, who is the brother of John. That's the first thing I want to do. And the second thing, we're going to turn to John 15, and I'm going to talk with you about the effectual call of grace, because that's exactly what is being demonstrated to us. So Mark 1, let me start at 16 again. He saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, Andrew we've already talked about, and they were fishers, and he said, come after me. And the title of this message is in verse 18, straightway they forsook their nests, or straightway they followed him. That's what I titled it, straightway they followed him. Who is Simon Peter? Well, Simon is a name that was given to him by his parents, and the name Simon means listening, listening. I wouldn't be surprised if Simon was so assertive when he was a young boy, so energetic. They had maybe called him something else, and so they said, let's just call him listening because he's not doing any of it. So Simon was called listening. That's what Simon means. And then later on, Jesus gives him the name of Petras, Peter, and that name means rock. And Peter by nature was actually neither one of those. He was not a man who appeared to listen very well, though really he listened quite well. And he didn't appear to be a man very stable like a rock, but in the end, of course, he's very stable. And he is a strong leader in the church. He is from Capernaum. So you know where Capernaum is now. Jerusalem up to Capernaum. How many miles did I say it was? Eighty miles. Five to seven days to walk up there. Jerusalem was the heart and the center of religion. Capernaum was a fishing village. A lot of Jews there, but also a lot of Gentiles there. So it was a place where travelers came. They traveled from the Mediterranean coast over and by the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, and then they would travel north or they could travel further east. So it was a very important place and a place where he was from. He was trained in the Jewish school in Capernaum. He was in a fishing business with his father Zebedee, with Andrew, his brother, and then with two other friends that they had, James and John. And they are listed in that business in Luke chapter 5 and verse 10. Peter, we know, was married. We don't know that in the Gospels, but we know that from 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 5, where Paul says, I could be like Peter and have a wife, but I don't. So we know that Peter was a married man and that she traveled along with him. We know that he was an energetic, I've used that word, he was energetic most likely as a child, but we also know that he was an energetic leader. And the reason we know that is because he's the first to speak out. When something would come up with the disciples, he would be the first one to speak. So you always think of Peter as being larger than than the others, at least that's the way I always think of him, but he probably wasn't. But he just was a forthright speaker. He would speak out. He was a man of words. But he was also hot-tempered. He was given to wanting his way. He's the one who said, I'll go anywhere with you. I'll do anything you do. Wherever you go, I'll go. Of course, he didn't. But he said he would. But he was a fierce, hot-tempered man because when Judas Iscariot led the soldiers and the religious leaders to find Jesus in the garden, who was it that tried to kill? He wasn't a very good swordsman. He was really aiming to kill him. But he really just cut off his ear. But he was aiming for his head, cut off his ear, and then Jesus put it back on. But he was a very hot-tempered man. But in the middle of all of this, he also was given spiritual understanding. In Matthew 16, that wonderful place where Jesus said, I will build my church. Just before that, He had asked them, who do men say that I am? They said various things. And then Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. So here is this Peter with all of these personal characteristics that we can see about him. But he was also a man that God chose to give spiritual truth to. We know his name was changed to Peter, as I've already told you. And so in his letters, so if you were to look at 1 and 2 Peter, his letters, how does he identify himself? As Simon? No, as Peter Petros. So from then on, he was known as Peter. But he also was one who denied the Lord at his trials very vehemently. I know not the man. And cursed. Used curse words. He said, I know not the man. But you were his disciple. And I know not the man. Not only did I not follow him, I didn't even know him. And cursed while saying it. He wasn't at the crucifixion. He was at close to where Jesus was about to be taken, but not at the crucifixion. He's given instructions following the resurrection. We've already seen that in John 21. And if I read on in John 21, Jesus tells him that you're going to become a leader and you're going to suffer greatly. So Peter knows a little bit about what is coming. He was a bold preacher because who was it that stood up at Pentecost? Peter. On Pentecost, he stood up and preached the gospel to those people. He was a preacher and preached to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, in Acts chapter 10. He is bold and he preaches at the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15. He is the central figure in the first 12 chapters of the book of Acts. Then who becomes the central figure? Well, of course, it is Paul the Apostle. From chapter 13 and on to the end, it is Paul. But in those first 12 chapters, it is our man Peter. He also was a man given to vacillation. Unfortunately, he was given to vacillation. After the Jerusalem Council, so after he's spoken so boldly, Paul and Barnabas separate and Paul goes up to Antioch and then Peter is also there and then we know that Barnabas and Mark come up there to Antioch. And Peter becomes inconsistent. He says, I'm not going to eat with these Gentiles. Now why did he say that? It's because the leaders from the church were coming up from Jerusalem and he didn't want to appear to be eating with the Gentiles. He really hadn't gone all the way. And Paul confronts him to the face about dissimulation or about his hypocrisy about that. So he's given to vacillation. But he traveled with Mark, as I've suggested, and we've seen before, he called him my son. He wrote 1st and 2nd Peter. We know that he's in Rome, because he refers to that. But he also, after Paul, is beheaded. And the beheading is actually something that was given to the Romans as an honorable way of being put to death. But being crucified was a demeaning way of being put to death. And then the worst form of being demeaning was being crucified upside down. And Peter requested that he be crucified upside down. So Peter, by the end, is exactly what Jesus said he would be. You are the rock. Now let me talk with you about James. We've looked at these others, Andrew, Simon here, and then down here a little bit we come to James. The name James is actually the New Testament name for the Old Testament name Jacob. And Jacob is really not a pretty name because it means a trickster. But he became Israel, Jacob changed to Israel, so he went from being a trickster to be controlled by Elohim. You hear the E-L on the end of Israel? That E-L is Elohim and it's controlled by Elohim. He's a worshiper of Elohim. And Jacob throughout the Old Testament is a picture of what? The type of what? Do you remember? He's a type of God's election. So God elected him rather than Esau, though Esau is the more likely of the two. But having done neither good or evil, but before they were born, God chose Jacob. He is the brother to John. We've already talked about John in the Gospel of John. John becomes such an important figure in the last half of the first century, but he's his brother. Same parents, of course, Zebedee and Mary. He's a fisherman. He went to the school. He's a classmate of Peter and Andrew in Capernaum. They went to school together, played hooky together. No telling what those boys did, but they went to school together. What can we say about James? Well, what I want to say to you is I'm going to give you a list of some things he was present at. He was at Peter's mother's healing, so when Jesus healed the mother. He was also there when Jairus' daughter was raised from the grave in Luke 5. He was also there when many fish were caught in Luke 5 and John 21. He was at the transfiguration of Jesus in John 17. He was a part of the inner circle in Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus took him and two others with him, Matthew 26. He was at the resurrection in John 21, and Paul notes him in 1 Corinthians 15. And then maybe the biggest thing that we know about James is he became the first martyr. All the disciples other than John, so other than his own brother, was put to death. We don't know if John was or wasn't, but we have good reason to believe the others were martyred. He was the first one. But when Jesus says to them, come ye after me, straightway, in verse 18, straightway they followed him. They dropped what was in their hand and they followed him. Now, this dropping what was in their hand is important because it also illustrates to us that whatever is in our hand, we must drop. And essentially, that is going to be our false professions of faith, our false religion, our relationships. Your relationship with your grandchildren cannot keep you from coming to Christ. Your relationship to your mother, your dad, Your granddaddy was a preacher. You cannot let that be in the way. You have to drop it. And that's what they did. They forsook their nets. We have to forsake everything that would be in our way and follow Him. And that's what happens in the effectual call of grace. So that's what I want to talk with you about now. I'm to that second part, and I have about eight or nine minutes to talk with you about this. The general call is to all men everywhere. And we extend that call to all men everywhere. I urge anyone within the sound of my voice ever, I urge you with all that I have within me, come to Christ. Forsake everything and come to Christ. But the definite call only God can make, and it is to His chosen ones in Christ, which He did before the foundation of the world. The order of the gospel is logical, and it is clear. God chose before time, Christ redeemed while upon the cross, and the Holy Spirit awakens and calls the redeemed to Himself. And it is this definite call that always is our concern. I want you to look in Mark chapter 3 and verse 13. 3 and verse 13. In verse 13, He goeth up into the mountain, and what does it say was the middle part of that verse? He calleth unto Him whom He would. Whom He would. Now I want you to go with me to John chapter 5. I'm just skipping some things of course. But I want you to go with me to John chapter 5. And I want you to look in verse 21. quickeneth whom he will. Why does it not say the Son quickeneth whom they will? Because that's not the truth. It's not who they will. Look over in chapter 6. Look in verse 37. All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me. They will come. Look in John 10. Look in verse 16. Another sheep I have which are not of this fold. That would be the Gentiles he's talking about, the other sheep. Then also, I must bring. I must bring. It's God's purpose that He would bring them. And they shall hear My voice. They're going to hear it as so is to come. And there'll be one fold, and there'll be one shepherd. Look down to verse 25. I told you and you believed not. Why did they believe not? Why did they believe not? Verse 26, you believe not because you are not My sheep. Verse 27, My sheep hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me. They always do. Now some would say, well, I can see election in the Bible, but I don't think it's important. seem to be important to Jesus. If you're going to talk about the Jesus of the scripture, you're going to have to talk about the things that Jesus said. You think that you're going to be able to follow the teachings of Jesus and avoid this truth? Can't do it. What you come with is what you stay with. If you come by the gospel, you'll stay with the gospel. But you come a false way and then you hear the gospel, you're going to depart. So I don't try to preach anything else other than the gospel. of what God has done to save His people, which begins with His election. And if election is by foreseen faith, that is, that God foresaw who would believe, then it's not God who elected, it is man who elected. man who elected God. There would be no such word as predestination. Rather, what would it be called? Would it not be post-destination? If God didn't see it beforehand and determined it to be, it'd be post-destination. The word election would be replaced with opportunity, some such word is that. The word call would be replaced with request or a definite call with maybe a universal invitation, so a request or an invitation to come. In Acts 2 and 23 it says, him being delivered by the determined counsel and the foreknowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. If it was by foreseen faith, it would read something like this, him being delivered by the probable counsel and the post-knowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. In Acts 4, 27 and 28 it reads, Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel were gathered together for it to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before it to be done." It would read something like this, you're gathered to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel led you to do. Ephesians 1.4 says, according as he chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, it would read, according as he saw our faith in him before the foundation of the world, therefore he chose us. Acts 13.48, for as many as were ordained to eternal life believed would read as many as believed were ordained to eternal life. Now if you'll look with me in John 15, which we read a few moments ago, Jesus said, you have not, verse 16, 15-16, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Would that not read, I have not chosen you, but you have chosen me, and you have ordained yourselves. But I looked at this in the original language, and this phrase, you have not chosen me, actually reads like this. Doesn't sound right to us, so we wouldn't say this. You, me, have chosen." But the reason they put it like that, the reason Jesus put it that way, is because the negative, which is in the original Ux, Ux is first because it's the negative, and it's put in what is called the emphatic position, put first. Not, Jesus, it's like saying not and putting an exclamation mark, not you have chosen me. Jesus was very careful to put the pronoun you in there, you, you yourselves, any of you, all of you, each of you, you. He could have left that out, but he didn't. Not have chosen me, he could have said, and it would have been implied you, but he didn't. He added it in there. When they put it there, it meant It was meant to be there on purpose. Not you have chosen me. And the next word there is actually after you is me, me. And it's emphatic because it's before the verb. Because normally in Greek you have the verb and then you have the noun. Now for us, we would normally have the noun and then the verb, the way we talk. But the way they did it, you would first have the verb and then the noun. But he moved it before the verb. Why? Because he's making it an emphatic NOT. Me have you chosen. Chosen is elektos. Ek, ek-elektos. Out, called. It's an aorist tense, a point action verb, which means you're yourselves at no time in the past. It is a middle voice. You have not chosen me. He's making this as strong as could be said in the Greek language. Couldn't be said any stronger. He could have left off this part of the statement. and ordained you, but I have chosen you. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." So he moves on to that part, and the but that is there is the strongest conjunction that they have, Allah. I, he says, chose, I myself chose, and ordained, placed you. He doesn't say, you chose me and you placed yourself. I decided to go into the ministry. He said, no, you didn't decide to go into the ministry, I placed you there. You didn't decide to become an apostle, I placed you there. So dangerous for someone to decide to do that. Chosen to salvation, chosen to me, and ordained to service. That's what this is about. I have chosen you. All of this. Can you imagine the disciples say, well, wait a minute, Lord. Just a minute now. Let's think about this. It's true that you spoke to us first, but I'm the one who repented and believed. I'm the one who left my nets. I left my father and my mother. I'm the one that opened my heart. I'm the one that received you. I'm the one that gave you my all in all." Or if they were to say to him, yes, I believe it, but I don't want to preach it. It sounds too harsh, too limiting, turns too many people off. It's a bad message. We've got to make it so it's available to everybody. And if we do that, there'll be a lot of people that'll come. So we just can't do that. If they had said this, they would be in the same category of James Iscariot and the religious lot of that day, or they would be a part of the jumping for Jesus crowd today, the free will crowd, or the justification by faith crowd. But Jesus, instead of saying, come, what would He have said to them, had they done that? Depart. To His disciples, the one chosen, He said, come, and they came. But if they got in there and they started complaining about what he preached, he would say, depart. So anybody that says they believe the message, say they believe in Jesus, even use the word sovereign, but they reject the truth of the gospel, they don't believe it. They're not a part of it. Dear soul, if he calls you, If He calls you, you will come. If He calls you, it will be in conjunction with the truth and not a lie. If He calls you, you will come gladly, not reluctantly. You will come happily, not begrudgingly. You will come thoroughly and not partially. That's a little truth about the effectual call of grace.